196 



NA TURE 



[DECFMiiEK 16, 1909 



Through the death of Prof. Bauerman one of the 

 few members of the old school, of which his earliest 

 teacher and greatest friend— Dr. Percy— was a type, 

 has been lost to us ; one of the most kindly and sym- 

 pathetic friends to the younger members of his pro- 

 fession has passed away, and a most intimate com- 

 panion, mentor, and friend has been lost _ to the 

 writer. Only those who knew him can realise how 

 threat a loss is being experienced by his friends, and 

 ijy the many councils and committees on which he 

 served, and on which his wide experience of men 

 and things rendered him so valuable. 



Bauerman, like most great men, died in harness. 

 Even on the day before his death he was occupied in 

 •dictating a review on a scientific work, and a few 

 hours before he passed away peacefully in his sleep 

 he was talking of his past labours and of the future 

 -work of the younger generation. 



George T. Holloway. 



TRE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM. 



THE Trustees of the British Museum have sent 

 the subjoined correspondence to the Times, 

 through Dr. F. G. Kenyon, director and principal 

 librarian of the museum. 



House of Commons, December 3, 1909. 

 Dear Sir Archibald, — At the meeting of the standing 

 •committee of the Trustees of the British Museum held on 

 Saturday last at South Kensington, the letters which 

 recently appeared in the Times relative to the connection 

 •of the Bloomsbury and South Kensington Departments of 

 the British Museum and the relation of their respective 

 Directors were very fully considered. It was unanimously 

 felt that nobody could throw a clearer light upon the matter 

 than yourself ; that nobody's voice would be so well listened 

 to; and that nobody's opinion would carry so much weight 

 as your own, if you could be persuaded to give the benefit 

 of your views on the question to your co-Trustees. 



I understand that you have recently had occasion to 

 inquire into this matter ; may I venture, therefore, to invite 

 you, as one of the Trustees of the British Museum, to be 

 kind enough to inform your co-Trustees of the opinions 

 which you hold upon the subject-matter in question? 



If I might venture to suggest, the points upon which it 

 appears to me desirable that we should be informed are 

 (i) whether the Board of Trustees, acting through its stand- 

 ing committee, is in your judgment the best authority for 

 the government of such an institution as the Natural 

 History Departments of the British Museum, and (2) 

 whether, under the existing statutes and rules, the scientific 

 management of the Natural History Museum suffers any 

 detriment from its association with the museum at Blooms- 

 bury. 



The Trustees are anxious to be reassured that the 

 management of the Natural History Departments of the 

 British Museum can be usefully, adequately, and properly 

 carried on under the present system, and feel that, as you 

 have recently had the subject before you, and have made 

 special inquiries into it, your judgment upon it would carry 

 special weight. 



I may say that, at the meeting of the Trustees on Satur- 

 day, November 27, I was instructed by my colleagues to 

 deal with this matter, and I have therefore the less hesita- 

 tion in approaching you directly upon it. 



I beg to remain, yours faithfully, 



James W. Lowther. 

 To Sir A. Geikie, F.R.S., Shepherd's Down, 

 Haslemere. 

 Shepherd's Down, Haslemere, December 7, igog. 

 Dear Mr. Speaker, — In reply to your letter of 3rd inst. 

 I have pleasure in stating, for the information of my co- 

 Trustees of the British Museum, the opinion which I have 

 been led to form on the questions you refer to me. I 

 may say that the agitation on this subject, which has been 

 carried on, fitfully but persistently, in the public Press for 

 many years, supported as it has been by some well-known 



NO. 2094, VOL. 82] 



men of science, created in my mind the impression that 

 there was probably some ground for the complaints that 

 had been brought forward. But not until recently have I 

 had occasion to make a careful investigation of the facts 

 of the case. The result of this inquiry has been to con- 

 vince me that the agitation has no substantial justification, 

 but has arisen from misapprehension or ignorance, and that 

 if the actual state of the matter had been realised no 

 agitation ought ever to have been started. 



The allegation so constantly made that the Director of 

 the Natural History Museum is under much more than 

 the merely nominal control of the Director and Principal 

 Librarian at Bloomsbury is without any real foundation. 

 It has probably been suggested by the fact that, as both 

 establishments are administered by one Board of Trustees, 

 the financial business of the whole institution is entrusted 

 to a single accounting officer. In this obviously convenient 

 and economical arrangement the supervision has been 

 assigned to the Director and Principal Librarian, to whom, 

 by Act of Parliament, every other officer of the British 

 Museum is subordinate. But he has no power whatsoever 

 of interference in the scientific work or management of 

 the Natural History Museum. The duties and responsibili- 

 ties of the Director of the Natural History Departments at 

 South Kensington, as laid down in the statutes and rules, 

 are precisely the same as those of the Director and Prin- 

 cipal Librarian in regard to the various departments at 

 Bloomsbury. Each of these officers is charged with the 

 independent control of the museum and staff over which he 

 presides. Thus the subordination of the one Director to 

 the other is, for all practical purposes, non-existent. 



I cannot conceive of a scheme which, under a board of 

 managers, could more fully secure liberty of initiation and 

 action in each of the two establishments. Both Directors 

 are in immediate touch with the Board of Trustees. This 

 board is not a bureau of secretaries and clerks in a Govern- 

 ment department, but a body of cultivated gentlemen, full 

 of sympathy with the objects of the great institution com- 

 mitted to them, anxious to promote its interests, and ready 

 at all times to seek the best expert advice in matters which 

 may lie beyond their personal cognisance. 



It is, of course, not to be expected that any set of 

 regulations, how carefully soever they may have been 

 framed, %vill provide for every contingency that can arise 

 from the effects of personal idiosyncrasies. In the conduct 

 of any public institution it must be assumed that the duties 

 assigned to the various officers of the staff will be dis- 

 charged with courtesy, good feeling, and loyalty to the 

 service. Where, unhappily, these fundamental qualities 

 prove deficient, friction is not unlikely to arise ; but any 

 instance of it can be dealt with by the governing authority, 

 and should not imply the necessity for a revision of the 

 statutes, still less for a reorganisation of the institution. 

 After a fairly wide experience, I have no hesitation in 

 asserting that I know of no establishment, either in this 

 or any other country, wherein more favourable conditions 

 have been provided for harmonious and effective coopera- 

 tion in scientific work than have been devised by the 

 Board of Trustees of the British Museum for the adminis- 

 tration of the important departments committed to their 

 care. 



I remain, yours very faithfully. 



Arch. Geikie. 



To the Right Honourable the Speaker of the House of 

 Commons. 



NOTES. 

 We announce with deep regret that Dr. Ludwig Mond, 

 F.R.S., died on Saturday, December 11, at seventy years 

 of age. 



We regret to see the announcement that Sir Alfred 

 Jones, K.C.M.G., who rendered valuable services to science 

 by the share he took in the foundation and endowment of 

 the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, died on 

 December 13, at sixty-four years of age. 



Mr. W. M. Tattersall has been appointed keeper of 

 the Manchester Museum in succession to Dr. W. E. Hoyle. 



